ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL

society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies. At its founding, Jones delivered the first of a famous series of discourses. The Asiatic Society had the support and encouragement of Warren Hastings, the governor general of Bengal (177285), though he declined its presidency. Until Jones's death (1794) it was the vehicle for his ideas about the importance of Hindu culture and learning and about the vital role of Sanskrit in the Aryan languages.